1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cartridge suitable for accommodating a disc-shaped recording medium such as a CD-ROM for example and, more particularly, to a cartridge having a shutter slidably provided on both sides of an opening formed on one side of a casing of the cartridge to open and close the opening.
2. Description of the Related Art
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,013 for example, a conventional disc cartridge for accommodating a disc-shaped recording medium such as a CD-ROM is composed of a disc-accommodating case formed with an opening at one side, a shutter slidably attached along one end of the case and between both ends of the opening to open and close it, and a compression coil spring for forcibly returning the shutter to a center position of the opening.
With such a conventional disc cartridge, a metal guide member made of a stainless sheet for example is assembled into one end of the case in parallel with a shutter sliding direction. A guide slider linked with the shutter and a pair of sliders are slidably inserted in the guide member. The two sliders are pulled to each other by means of a compression coil spring attached between ends of the sliders. Thus, the two sliders are abutted against both ends of the guide slider to forcibly return the shutter to the center of the above-mentioned opening.
By selectively sliding the shutter in one direction or another of the above-mentioned opening, one of the above-mentioned two sliders is selectively slid along the guide member against the force of the compression coil spring when opening the above-mentioned opening. It should be noted that a disc cartridge of the above-mentioned type is-used on a disc drive as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,358 for example.